Christmas Star: The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn

When world's collide: The planets Jupiter and Saturn appeared just 0.1 degree distance from one another on the evening of Monday, December 21, 2020, forming "The Christmas Star" or The Great Conjunction. This day was the two planet's closest visual apprearance. In reality, however, they were some 456 million miles apart. The last time Jupiter and Saturn were this near to one another in our skies was on July 16, 1623, but this event was difficult to observe at they were very close to the sun. The last closest encounter that was observable was on March 5, 1226--794 years ago! On December 21, 2020, clouds in the Cedar Rapids Iowa metro area threatened to obscure this very rare and special event. As it turned out though, the conjunction was observable through gaps in clouds, and in a large clear area just above the horizon as it set. Jupiter shone at magnitude -1.97, Saturn at 0.63. The image above looks southwest at 5:32 pm CST, 54 minutes after sunset. The planets peek through a gap in the clouds at top. Location was Hampshire Drive near Prescott Lane in Marion, Iowa. It is a 2 second exposure at f/9, ISO 320 and 36mm focal length. Air temperature was 41 degrees F, with windchill at 25 degrees. 

6:00 pm. Looking southwest from the back lawn at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids. 2.5 second exposure at f/4, ISO 320, 70mm focal length. Air temperature was 40 degrees F.

6:07 pm. Conjunction seen from the front lawn at Noelridge Christian Church. The awe inspiring conjunction event situated at the end of a difficult 2020 year reminded me of 1968, when the crew of Apollo 8 read with hope verses from the book of Genesis as they orbited the moon on Christmas Eve, following a similarly tumultuous year. Image is a 2.5 second exposure at f/6.3, ISO 500, 70mm focal length. 

5:30 pm CST, Tuesday, December 22, 2020. Zoomed-in capture one day after the pair's closest encounter. The visible Jovian moons are, from top-to-bottom: Europa, Callisto, Io and Ganymede. 0.5 second exposure at f/5.6, ISO 1000 and 300mm focal length. Shot from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids. Air temperature was 40 degrees F. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

The Starry Night Pro image shown above is from December 5, 7 BC, when Jupiter and Saturn (circled) were also in a close conjunction event. To some, this might have been the Christmas Star, heralding the birth of Jesus. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!